The Denver Broncos hoped to win one for Wade. But the New Orleans Saints had a better idea--win one with Wade. Jim Everett passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns before being injured, and backup Wade Wilson made a lead stand up as the Saints defeated the Broncos, 30-28, on Saturday. Wilson, a 14-year veteran who played sparingly this season in Everett's shadow, helped the Saints (7-9) capitalize on three Denver turnovers in the final period.

Denver Bronco Coach Wade Phillips was hospitalized Wednesday because of severe abdominal pain, but was released after about a 15-hour stay and hopes to be at practice today. Phillips' condition was diagnosed as gastroenteritis--an inflammation of the stomach and intestines usually caused by a virus. Seeking a backup quarterback, the Miami Dolphins signed Steve DeBerg.

Out one door and in the other. Dan Reeves reportedly reached a tentative agreement to coach the New York Giants Monday, the same day that the Denver Broncos announced that Wade Phillips would replace Reeves as coach. The Broncos had fired Reeves in late December after Denver missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record. A news conference announcing Reeves, 49, as the Giants' coach will be held either today or Wednesday, according to unidentified sources in an Associated Press report.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be coaches. Don't let 'em run projectors till until all hours of the morning, until some scatter-brain running back fumbles or some official leaves his glasses home and some oilman's kid decides to interrupt Christmas holiday to tell 'em they're history. All that happened to Wade Phillips' daddy, Bum. You can forget it, pilgrim. These are the sons of the pioneers.

He used to be known only as Bum Phillips' son. Now he is being hailed as the man who has brought order out of chaos for the Denver Broncos' defense. When Wade Phillips served as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints from 1981 to 1985, few people noticed that his unit finished among the top five in the National Football League three times in five seasons. Because his father was the Saints' head coach, the popular assumption was that he owed his job to nepotism.

Being a head coach in the NFL isn't easy when your old man is a Bum. Just ask Wade Phillips, who this week was handed one of the least-coveted jobs on the bayou when he was named interim coach of the New Orleans Saints. "I thought it would be the happiest day of my life when I got to be a head coach in the NFL," he said. Monday's press conference, though, was no champagne brunch. There's little joy in being named to replace your own father in the job at which he failed.